I have been crusing the news, which is something I do most nights, and happen upon a story of a woman ,and a small dog attacted by a Rottweiler. Once again as the story goes,, ( and always seems to be the same story) the dog has never been vicius before. I usually don't believe that line, but the neighbour they interviewed seemed to hold that same feeling. ( who knows they could be best friends) but still I'll give the benifit of the doubt.

Last year near here a woman's pit bull attacked and killed her granddaughter in their back yard. To the dismay of many since the dog has never be vicius before.

So here is my problem. Some owner are just blind to when their dog is vicious,, some dogs have never been vicious and for no apparent reason attack and sometimes kill, some dogs stay wonderful pets forever and never hurt anyone ( sorry but it does tend to be the same breeds 95% of the time)

I really hope it's just blind owners because if this is your trusted pet who has never shown signs agression till the day he attacks, causing bodily harm or killing how the heck are you to trust him.

Now I know,, my Rudy would never hurt a fly,, or Sammy has always been as gentle as a bear.. it just scares the poop out of me when I see news where a dog that has never done anything agressive but today turns on a person or another dog for no reason.....

Someone please tell me how I am to trust these breeds.

Please don't eat me up,, I just want to understand the thinking and what makes this dog safe and this dog not safe. And don't say it's the bad owner,, cause that is just not the case of the dog that lived near here, or it would seem the dog on the news...... if you want it to check it yourself it was on wftv.com in their video section.

As a rottie person - I ask you to please not assume that 95% of dog attacks are caused by one or two breeds. The problem is that the media knows that the mere mention of a pit bull or a rottweiler will guarantee sales. Not so much if you have labradors or pomeranians in your headline. I don't know what the statistics are for Australia, but I do know that North America (either the U.S. or Canada) is lacking any kind of reliable method of tracking dog bites. Most are voluntarily reported unless there is a death or major mutilation of the victim and the police are involved.

The other thing you need to consider is that most often, the VICTIM is asked to identify the breed of dog that bit them. Unless you live and breathe dogs, chances are you can't tell a pit bull from a lab mix.

There are many facets to being a responsible dog owner. Vetting, training and socializing are a great beginning. KNOWING your dog - what it's triggers are, how it shows things through body language, keeping it out of situations that could cause a problem - these things are just as important as vetting, training and socialization. And being aware that a dog is just that - a dog - and not some child or furkid, capable of attacking and killing even if it has never done so before.

While you are sure that neither one of your dogs would ever hurt someone, don't ever, ever lose sight of the fact that either one of your dogs is CAPABLE of hurting someone.

LavenderRott thank you,, I do stand corrected and you are right, I'm sure those breeds do grab the headlines more than others.

Onster is correct to I actually think you are in more danger of being bit by a small dog than most large dogs.

My real concern here I guess is that these dogs that do attack and cause great or deadly damage ,, up to that point,, were your typical Rover that you would leave alone with your small grandchild or let loose in a park. How can they go from nice puppy to eat your face off with no prior signs of aggression?

How can they go from nice puppy to eat your face off with no prior signs of aggression?

Honestly - they don't. There are ALWAYS signs. You just have to know how to read them.

For example - Fifi is a great dog. She has never been to an obedience class but she goes out with us to the petshop and we have people to the house. If Fifi is laying on the bed, she will growl at us if we try to move her. So we just get in around her. Fifi doesn't like it when people get too close when she is eating, so we don't bother her. Fifi always lets us know when she wants attention, so we give it to her. Fifi doesn't like the vet. It is very cute how she nips at him. She is very little though, and those shots hurt. And I don't like it when people poke and prod at me, so I can't blame Fifi that she doesn't like being poked and prodded at.

Fifi is a dog bite waiting to happen. She runs her family and chances are that if she is pushed to do something she doesn't want to do, she will use her teeth to reinforce HER rules.

I agree with the above post. There is no such thing as a dog attacking and never showing signs. These dogs are showing all the signs long before they actually attack. It's the owners who refuse to see the signs and keep making excuses.

You may never have heard this story if it involved a poodle or a golden or any other breed deemed acceptable by the media. I have been bit twice both times by small dogs but ultimately it is the owner who is to blame. If I would have ever let Buddy behave so poorly people would have reported the giant vicious dog but not the small vicious one. There are always signs except maybe a medical condition that a dog would just snap.

__________________
Robin
A dog has so many friends because they wag their tails not their tongues.
R.I.P. Buddy 2002-2008 The best Mastiff ever.
Now owned by Clark the Crazy American Bulldog

The owners not recognizing the signs is a particular peeve of mine. And since many of the attacking dogs, no matter what the breed, are running loose, how is an owner to know what the dog will do when the owner is not with it? Not understanding that their dog, who somehow gets out of the yard or off the leash, is now perhaps in a situation that is frightening to it and might cause it to react defensively is how we get those, "oh, he wouldn't do that" reports.

I have neighbours who thought their husky mix dog was submissive and retiring with all people and dogs she met. And she was, when the adult owners were with her. But when the grandchildren visited and took the dog down the trail for a walk, without the adult owners, she was a completely different dog. That dog was upfront to meet everyone she encountered, human or dog, and I believe she would have bitten if she thought she had to defend those children.